My daughter (who’s 7) has an iPad mainly because they have to use them at school, an iPod that she sometimes listens to on the bus (with volume limited headphones :wink:) and she has a cheap phone that she keeps in her school bag in case she misses the bus, school would ring us anyway but it makes her feel better.

I guess compared to when I was her age she has lots of other things that I didn’t, TV in her room, loads of toys, a fairly expensive bike etc.

But all that being said I don’t think she is particularly spoilt, she knows that no means no and it is very rare that she gets a treat without earning it through chores or as a reward. When we go on holiday or out on a trip she has a certain amount of pocket money and she can use that to buy whatever she wants, once it’s gone it’s gone.

She would barge her way to the front for a balloon at parties though, she learned pretty quickly that Dutch kids don't queue!

don't get me started on children with telly's in their bedroom, in all of our family and all close friends bar one, it is a no no. the one with the telly is a lazy, spoiled, pushy type with no manners.

a child with its own telly is less lightly to get up early for school, will have less concentration at school and is less likely to walk to school.

edit ; a bedroom is for sleeping and getting rest to set you up for the day a head. imo, they should be gadget free, even for adults.

don't get me started on children with telly's in their bedroom, in all of our family and all close friends bar one, it is a no no. the one with the telly is a lazy, spoiled, pushy type with no manners.

a child with its own telly is less lightly to get up early for school, will have less concentration at school and is less likely to walk to school.

I had a TV in my (shared with my brother) bedroom when I was a kid. Can't remember when I got it, but certainly had it right through secondary.

a bedroom is for sleeping and getting rest to set you up for the day a head. imo, they should be gadget free, even for adults.

the one with the telly is a lazy, spoiled, pushy type with no manners.

You know about correlation and causation? You don't think that might be down to the parents rather than the fact that they have a TV in their room? I had a TV in my room when I was a kid, and was never any of those things. I suspect there are quite a few kids with no TV in their bedrooms who are lazy and spoiled too.

don't get me started on children with telly's in their bedroom, in all of our family and all close friends bar one, it is a no no. the one with the telly is a lazy, spoiled, pushy type with no manners.
a child with its own telly is less lightly to get up early for school, will have less concentration at school and is less likely to walk to school.

a child with its own telly is less lightly to get up early for school, will have less concentration at school and is less likely to walk to school.

The telly in her room is in a seperate play area with a couch (it was 2 rooms knocked into one) so she can't watch it in bed.

She gets up fine every morning. She concentrates very well because she has a teacher who engages with her and a small class size. I doubt she'll be walking any time soon, school is 30 miles away.

Wtf?!

I know, teaching kids how to use everday technology whatever next? They don't even use chalk boards or ink pens anymore.
All their homework is app based, all of their books are available electronically, artwork they do is scanned and pictures taken during lessons are uploaded so we can see it, their diary is automatically updated and all of that fits onto something the size of a notepad, amazing isn't it. You're not still chopping trees down are you?

Of course, but do they force you to buy an iPad? I'm not entirely comfortable with that, despite being very much into technolgy myself. If they are going to do everything electronically they should provide the means.

Bunnyhop - Member
don't get me started on children with telly's in their bedroom, in all of our family and all close friends bar one, it is a no no. the one with the telly is a lazy, spoiled, pushy type with no manners.

a child with its own telly is less lightly to get up early for school, will have less concentration at school and is less likely to walk to school.

Walk to school? WTF? This is a mountain bike forum. I don't want to chat to any parent whose child walks instead of riding a bike. What the hell sort of children are being raised around here?!

most teachers and child psychologists (sp ?) would say the same and i've given reasons above.
as a walk leader one of my jobs was to encourage children to walk to school to help counteract obesity and discourage short journeys by car, which is causing many children to have asthma.
research showed that almost all children that had a telly in their room were unlikely to walk to school and were tired the next day.

Go back 100 years and they were saying the same thing about shoeschimney sweeps

Our children will grow up in a world far more connected via devices and technology than we can currently imagine. So perhaps they should learn how to use these devices at an early age?

In the 50's Elvis was corrupting the minds of teenagers, most of who turned into our parents.
Charlie and Chocolate Factory 1964 features a number of different children with repellant behavoir, no TV's in bedrooms or tablets back then...

a child with its own telly is less lightly to get up early for school, will have less concentration at school and is less likely to walk to school.

I'm not sure what, if anything you are, or are hoping to, infer from this.
Most normal children dislike getting up early every day, especially for school.
Why would there be a correlation between TVs in the bedroom and walking to school?

But it doesn't demonstrate causality.
Fwiw, our two kids, almost every night without fail, will try and read in bed after lights out, and will often fall asleep with lights or torches on.
The eldest gets driven to school.

Our children will grow up in a world far more connected via devices and technology than we can currently imagine. So perhaps they should learn how to use these devices at an early age?

Nah, not really imo. 'Using the devices' isn't complicated, any fool can do it, at any age. Doing something useful with it, that requires education independent of the device.
So the current students we have were all born in the age of the internet. Never known anything else - yet are often pretty hopeless at actually finding the information they need off it.

My extensive research has shown that if given Cocoa Pops for breakfast, then daughter number one will then favour Candy Crush over Angry Birds. Daughter number two doesn't really like cereal, preferring toast, and doesn't have a television in her room, but does have a Wii, and as a direct result of this prefers playing Cut the Rope

* I had a TV in my room and walked to school. I have asthma.
* My kids don't have TVs in their room and generally walk, but are sometimes driven. They don't have asthma.

I suspect that many of the negative influences of TV on kids that we all know for a fact happen are actually a combination of rose-tinted spectacles and the shockingly bad reporting of academic studies* that we're inflicted with in this country.

* assuming they were academic studies and not just a phone poll carried out on behalf of a travel agent, insurance company or TV channel, which then gets reported as something more, before being picked up on by the education secretary as the basis for his reforms.